U.S. economy - Trade Watch

Business America, April 20, 1992

Retail sales in March dropped 0.4 percent from February, according to advance estimates, but they were 3.5 percent higher than in March 1991 ... Majority-owned affiliates of U.S. companies plan to increase capital expenditures 4 percent in 1992, to $65.8 billion, after an estimated 3 percent increase in 1991 ...

Manufacturers' after-tax profits averaged 1.3 cents per dollar of sales in the fourth quarter of 1991, down 1.3 cents from the third quarter ... February sales of merchant wholesalers were up 0.5 percent from January and were 1.4 percent above a year ago ... New orders for manufactured goods in February increased 0.5 percent, following a 0.5 percent rise in January and a 3.7 percent decrease in December.